Italy's New Anti-Corruption Law: Factors that Affect Regional Implementation

Corruption is a central cause of economic, financial, and political risk and instability; depreciated social capital and trust; democratic deficit; and violence and terrorism. It is thus no surprise that as regionalization and the integration of global markets has intensified, the fight against corruption has become an important part of the global policy agenda. This thesis investigates Italy’s new Anti-Corruption Law (Legge n. 190/2012)—a law that was passed by Mario Monti’s technocratic government in 2012, as part of a series of structural reforms designed to stabilize the Italian economy. This thesis looks at the Anti-Corruption Law from a regional lens. By speaking to Italian academics, jurists, politically-engaged citizens, regional anti-corruption officials, and Transparency International Italia, this thesis evaluates the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Law in two regions and identifies factors that affect its implementation at the regional level.